Next: The production plays once more at Staples, on Sunday, then comes to Honda Center in Anaheim on Dec. 13-14

How much: $55-$250 for Staples, $59-$254 for Honda Center, neither including fees

Call: 800-745-3000

Online: ticketmaster.com

Months before actually seeing it be built brick by cardboard brick and then spectacularly demolished Monday night at Staples Center, I already knew Roger Waters’ re-creation of The Wall would be the most impressive creation I’d ever witness. When you wait the bulk of your life to take part in such a rare, senses-enveloping extravagance, it isn’t likely to disappoint.

Make no mistake: this resurrection of Pink Floyd’s paranoid epic of loss, madness and isolation from very late 1979 is a rock-theater experience not to be missed, in any place, at any price.

For once, here’s a show for which triple-digit prices are thoroughly justified. The sheer scope of the production -- surreal, soul-stirring digital projections, enormous remote-controlled inflatables, pyrotechnics and hydraulics, all brilliantly fused with a spot-on superb musical performance -- doesn’t just give you your paycheck’s worth, it leaves you fully aware of the mega-costs involved (reportedly $60 million) in even attempting such a meaningful monstrosity.

Despite the involvement of anyone else from the Floyd (keyboardist Rick Wright passed away two years ago, guitarist David Gilmour is expected to cameo at some point on the tour), this is still unquestionably The Ultimate Wall. Its technological marvel and choreographed precision, reshaping Waters’ vision into a supremely humane anti-war statement, surely tops what could have been achieved with the original 1980 production, which premiered across seven consecutive nights at Los Angeles Sports Arena that February and was performed only 24 more times in three other cities: London, Uniondale, N.Y., and Dortmund, West Germany. (It plays once more at Staples Center, on Sunday, then comes to Orange County for two shows, Dec. 13-14, at Honda Center in Anaheim.)

Whether it surpasses the massive, star-studded re-staging in Berlin in July 1990, not long after that all-too-real wall dividing Germany finally came down, is debatable. Such global moments are on a level with Live Aid and the like. But the only spectacle that can even begin to measure up to this enhanced revival is U2’s hit-and-miss PopMart experiment from 1997, and that overloaded machine didn’t communicate a fraction of what Waters’ warning does now.

Profoundly universal, it puts points across with more palpable anguish and calamitous heartbreak than the celebratory Berlin colossus ever could. This is a terrifying experience for terrorized times.

Clearly Waters’ relation to The Wall has evolved in the 30 years, nine months and 16 days (as he calculated Monday) since it was last performed in Southern California, just as I suspect every listener’s relationship with this heavy material has. It’s such a moody monument, the bulk of its 81 minutes (on record) spiraling deeper into psychosis, that most people praise it while admitting they infrequently return to it, apart from singing along to “Comfortably Numb” or “Another Brick in the Wall (Part 2)” on the radio. I go through phases: I won’t play it for years, but then something (typically a catastrophe, global or personal) will trigger its reappearance and I won’t be able to get it out of my life again for several months.

Waters has undoubtedly had his bouts with it as well, considering how his role as this scarred opera’s messenger has morphed.

Back in ’79, though the world was in dire enough straits to warrant a show focused on the atrocities and aftermath of war, mid-30s Roger was too lost inside his own ego to bring such objectivity to his own predicament, having grown detached from Pink Floyd, disillusioned with the fame the band achieved and wracked by anxieties stemming from the loss of his father Eric in World War II.

A photo of the elder Waters in uniform is screened on the wall more than once in this version, by the way, initially during “The Thin Ice” early in the story, and again at intermission. At that point, the brief details of how he served and died are placed alongside hundreds more such bios sent in via Facebook, each detailing a lost loved one, from GIs who died at Normandy to slain Tehran activists.

Waters, in one of very few breaks in the program to address the audience, acknowledged that he was a more sullen, dispirited person back then, before singing along (via footage from an Earl’s Court show in 1980) with “that poor, miserable, f***ed-up young Roger from all those years ago” on the acoustic ballad “Mother.”

But here that song, midway into this epic’s first half, is a crucial turning point: rather than expounding upon any borderline Oedipal complex in the protagonist’s psyche, the song takes on heightened Orwellian overtones instead. A larger-than-life incarnation of one of Gerald Scarfe’s original animated creations looks down at the still-incomplete wall during the song, a mother figure more evil than nurturing, yet it’s the cold gaze of a closed-circuit camera surveying the crowd that scares.

The Wall always had a beware-totalitarianism subtext, but now it’s become the dominant theme. Waters, now 67, has downplayed the piece’s rock-star tribulations; romantically ravaged passages remain, though “Don’t Leave Me Now” and “One of My Turns,” before Pink bids “Goodbye Cruel World” at the end of Act I, now pack less sinister menace. We bask in little of the excessive thrill of “Young Lust” (though it rocks mightily all the same) and considerably more of the philosophizing behind “Goodbye Blue Sky.”

Unlike other moments that rely on Scarfe’s animation -- the sexually predatory flowers of the “Empty Spaces” sequence, the outlandish finale of “The Trial” (all parts expertly sung by Waters) -- “Goodbye Blue Sky” has been re-envisioned for modern times, just as the war-torn “Vera”/“Bring the Boys Back Home” segment has been updated with teary-eyed reunions of soldiers with their children.

More than just a graphic indictment of fascism, the imagery of “Sky” now points fingers at religions and corporations as implicit instruments of worldwide misery, as we watch crosses, dollar signs, Stars of David, Shell Oil logos and more fall like atomic bombs from warplanes. (Later, Apple’s iBranding of everything is skewered; we see words like “iFollow” alongside sheep and “iPay” next to gravestones.)

How it all comes together in the end is something best appreciated individually, though its acoustic conclusion, with Waters on trumpet, is still calmly moving, a flicker of hope after an extremely emotionally draining evening. Regardless of how you receive the message, however, what’s undeniable is the gargantuan grandeur of it all.

So much of it brought out the 10-year-old boy in me, the troubled kid who clung to The Wall at a tumultuous time yet who also craved the derring-do of Raiders of the Lost Ark. The opening alone, culminating in an array of fireworks and the fiery crash of a Stuka Dive Bomber, had me wide-eyed. Each new mesmerizing effect (watch the wall, now obscuring the band, magically disappear and become a lysergic horizon toward the end of “Comfortably Numb”) and every amazing surround-sound twist (at one point I thought school kids were giggling their way up from behind me) had me more awestruck than the last.

And when the wall itself came crashing down, blocks whooshing toward me in my floor chair, I was on another high altogether.

Sure, Waters has sounded this great before, and his Dark Side of the Moon tour, featuring many of the same masterful players (G.E. Smith has been added on guitar and bass), was stunning in its own right. But it pales in comparison to this towering achievement. I never dreamt I’d ever see something so astonishing. I also couldn’t have imagined it would be so overwhelmingly relevant.

Roger Waters: The Wall Live plays again tonight and Sunday at Staples Center, $55-$250, and then Dec. 13-14 at Honda Center in Anaheim, $59-$254. Prices do not include service fees.

Nikou, Catherine Townsend and Tamara Edwards, from left, enjoy the scene at Staples Center before Monday's performance of 'The Wall' by Roger Waters. ARMANDO BROWN, FOR THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Roger Waters performs in front of projected images during his performance of his Pink Floyd epic 'The Wall' at Staples Center in Los Angeles on Monday. ARMANDO BROWN, FOR THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
A large puppet of the the dreaded schoolteacher appears on stage during Monday night's performance of 'The Wall' by Roger Waters at Staples Center in Los Angeles. ARMANDO BROWN, FOR THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
A large puppet of the the dreaded schoolteacher appears on stage during Monday night's performance of 'The Wall' by Roger Waters at Staples Center in Los Angeles. ARMANDO BROWN, FOR THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
For "Another Brick in the Wall (Part 2)," Roger Waters was joined on stage by children from the Los Angeles children's organization Heart of Los Angeles during Monday's performance of the Pink Floyd epic 'The Wall' at Staples Center in Los Angeles. ARMANDO BROWN, FOR THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Roger Waters is joined on stage by children from the Los Angeles children's organization Heart of Los Angeles during Monday's performance of 'The Wall' at Staples Center in Los Angeles. ARMANDO BROWN, FOR THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Children from the Los Angeles organization Heart of Los Angeles defy the teacher during Monday's performance of 'The Wall' with Roger Waters at Staples Center in Los Angeles. ARMANDO BROWN, FOR THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Pyrotechnics light up the stage where Roger Waters is about to perform 'The Wall' at Staples Center on Monday in Los Angeles. ARMANDO BROWN, FOR THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Roger Waters puts on a jacket, which had been hanging on a mannequin at center stage, for the start of 'The Wall' on Monday at Staples Center in Los Angeles. ARMANDO BROWN, FOR THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Roger Waters puts on a jacket, which had been hanging on a mannequin at center stage, for the start of 'The Wall' on Monday at Staples Center in Los Angeles. ARMANDO BROWN, FOR THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Roger Waters opens Monday's performance of 'The Wall' at Staples Center in Los Angeles with 'In the Flesh.' ARMANDO BROWN, FOR THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Roger Waters opens Monday's performance of 'The Wall' at Staples Center in Los Angeles with 'In the Flesh.' ARMANDO BROWN, FOR THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Roger Waters, donning Gestapo garb at the start of Monday's performance of 'The Wall' at Staples Center in Los Angeles, begins his re-imagining of his Pink Floyd epic with 'In the Flesh.' ARMANDO BROWN, FOR THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
An airplane swoops down from the Staples Center rafters as part of the elaborate production of 'The Wall' by Roger Waters on Monday in Los Angeles. ARMANDO BROWN, FOR THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
An airplane, which swooped down from the Staples Center rafters crashes into the wall during Monday's performance by Roger Waters in Los Angeles. ARMANDO BROWN, FOR THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Register/Soundcheck contributor Desert Jeff Miller, right, captures the excitement from the second row as fireworks are set off at the end of 'In the Flesh,' the opening moment of Roger Waters' re-envisioned revival of his Pink Floyd epic 'The Wall.' The tour kicked off a run of five Southern California performances Monday night at Staples Center. ARMANDO BROWN, FOR THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Roger Waters sings and plays bass in front of projected images during his performance of 'The Wall' at Staples Center in Los Angeles on Monday. ARMANDO BROWN, FOR THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Robbie Wyckoff sings with Roger Waters, covering many of David Gilmour's parts, during Monday night's performance of 'The Wall' at Staples Center in Los Angeles. ARMANDO BROWN, FOR THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Roger Waters performs Monday night at Staples Center in Los Angeles. ARMANDO BROWN, FOR THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Roger Waters performs Monday night at Staples Center in Los Angeles. ARMANDO BROWN, FOR THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Albert Gonzalez came out to Staples Center to see Roger Waters' performance of 'The Wall' on Monday. ARMANDO BROWN, FOR THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Members of the 93.1 Jack FM Street Team have fun at Monday's performance of 'The Wall' by Roger Waters at Staples Center in Los Angeles. ARMANDO BROWN, FOR THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Brittany and her mother Belinda came over from Long Beach to see Roger Waters perform 'The Wall' at Staples Center. ARMANDO BROWN, FOR THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Dan and Jessie keep warm on a chilly Los Angeles night before going into Staples Center for Monday's Roger Waters concert. ARMANDO BROWN, FOR THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Lines to enter Staples Center for Roger Waters' concert spilled into the street on Monday in Los Angeles. ARMANDO BROWN, FOR THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Three lifelong Pink Floyd fans are all smiles as they head over to Staples Center to see Roger Waters on Monday. ARMANDO BROWN, FOR THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Huntington Beach father and daughter Robert and Maura Mejia have fun together at Roger Waters' performance of 'The Wall' at Staples Center on Monday. ARMANDO BROWN, FOR THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Pink Floyd fans Rich and Maria came out from Canyon Country to see Roger Waters perform 'The Wall' at Staples Center on Monday. ARMANDO BROWN, FOR THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Luscious and Promise were all smiles after watching Roger Waters perform 'The Wall' at Staples Center in Los Angeles on Monday. ARMANDO BROWN, FOR THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Jenna, Abby, McKenna and Holly, in no particular order, were still trying to gather themselves after watching Roger Waters perform 'The Wall' at Staples Center in Los Angeles on Monday. ARMANDO BROWN, FOR THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
A street performer greets fans exiting Staples Center after Monday's performance of 'The Wall' by Roger Waters in Los Angeles. ARMANDO BROWN, FOR THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Pink Floyd fans from the San Fernando Valley were in good spirits after watching Roger Waters perform 'The Wall' at Staples Center in Los Angeles on Monday. ARMANDO BROWN, FOR THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Pink Floyd fans from Santa Barbara were still trying to come back to reality after watching Roger Waters perform 'The Wall' at Staples Center in Los Angeles on Monday. ARMANDO BROWN, FOR THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
L.B. Louise, Trisha Lombardo and DJ Tic Tac, from left, were feeling good after Monday's performance of 'The Wall' by Roger Waters at Staples Center in Los Angeles. ARMANDO BROWN, FOR THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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